[Northkeep] G&G food ideas

[willowdewisp at juno.com]

Since Grub and Garb is being held close to St. Crispin Day I found this information out. Also this is the time Apple Cider and other apple products. I did on find recipes for Pork dishes with Apples but I found reference to Pork and apple dishes and Goose stuff with apples and nuts. Nuts being another Autumn treat. 
 I question the potato recipes because while the potato was discovered in the New World many people did not start eating it until after 1600. It was believed that potatoes caused Leprosy. In Ansteorra we know that is not true so we can eat it without worry.
Samhain is was thought to be the end of the "Summer" where you let the animals out to roam and the beginning of the "winter" year when you bought them in and because of this had to cull the herds. I suspect it was thought a time of death because it was just that. It was the time of slaughter and coming from a ranching family that really makes you think of death- all death animals and human.
Well here is what I found out. I can not cook right now but some of these sound like they would taste good.
October 4: Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi

FROM HIS early biographers we learn a charming incident in 
the life of the Little Poor Man of Assisi which deals with 
food even for this most abstemious of saints.

It was in the year 1212 that Saint Francis became acquainted 
with a young woman of the Roman nobility, Lady Jacoba di 
Settesoli, widow of the knight Gratiano Frangipani. The name 
Frangipani had been given the family because an ancestor had 
saved the Roman people from famine by giving them bread--
hence the name "Frangens panem."

Jacoba, a very devout woman and noted for her great 
generosity, often gave lodging to the Poverello when he came 
to Rome. So impressed was he with the energy and the 
capability of his friend that he called her "Brother 
Jacoba," by which title she passed to posterity. She not 
only saw that Francis' clothing was in decent order, but she 
served in her home a sweetmeat of which he was very fond. 
"Frangipane" it was called in later years--a concoction of 
almonds and sugar, for which the saint expressed perhaps the 
only compliment on cooking in his life.

Because Brother Jacoba was so good to him, Francis gave her 
a lamb which he had cherished and allowed to accompany him 
about, in honor, says Saint Bonaventure, of Our Lord Jesus 
Christ, the gentle Lamb of God. The lamb adopted Jacoba in 
the same way and "it would follow its mistress to church, 
lie down near her when she prayed, and return home with her. 
If Lady Jacoba overslept in the morning, the lamb would come 
to awaken her and would bleat in her ear to compel her to go 
to her devotions."

When he lay dying, Saint Francis thought of Brother Jacoba. 
"She would be too sad," he said to Brother Bernard, "to 
learn that I had quitted the world without warning her," and 
he dictated a letter, telling her the end of his life was 
near, that she was to set out as quickly as possible for 
Assisi to see him once more, and to bring with her a piece 
of haircloth as a shroud for his body and whatever else was 
necessary for his burial. "Bring me also," he ended, "I beg 
thee, some of those good things thou gavest me to eat in 
Rome when I was ill."

But the letter was barely finished and still unsent when the 
noise of horses was heard. Jacoba entered with her two sons 
and her servants, having been inspired to set out for Assisi 
from Rome. When one of the Brothers told Francis he had good 
news and before he could say more, Francis spoke. "God be 
praised. Let the door be opened, for the rule forbidding 
women to enter here is not for Brother Jacoba."

She had brought everything he needed--the veil for his face, 
the cushion for his head, the haircloth, the wax for the 
watching and funeral ceremonies. And she had brought also 
some of the almond sweetmeats he loved. He tried to eat 
them, but found he could take only a taste and he gave the 
rest to Brother Bernard.

Today we know "Frangipane" as a sweet almond cream flavored 
with red jasmine extract or a similar essence. It is used as 
a filling for cakes.


Frangipane Cream

2 eggs                         pinch of salt
3 egg yolks                    2 cups scalded milk
6 tablespoons sugar            1 teaspoon vanilla extract
12 tablespoons flour           6 stale macaroons
               3 tablespoons sweet butter

Stir the eggs and egg yolks and add the sugar mixed with the 
flour and salt. Slowly stir in the scalded milk and continue 
stirring over a slow fire until the mixture thickens. 
Remove, add the vanilla extract, the macaroons which have 
been finely crushed, and the butter. Stir from time to time 
so that the cream is cold before using. (Red Jasmine extract 
is most difficult to come by, but should any reader be 
fortunate enough to procure some, 6 drops may be added.)


October 25: Feast of Saints Crispin and Crispinian

This is the feast of two brothers, whose names are oddly 
alike. Both were bootmakers and cobblers. In France, their 
native land (though "The Golden Legend" tells us that they 
were Romans who had migrated to Soissons), many useful 
objects bear their name. A shoeshine kit is called a "Saint-
Crispin"; an awl is "Saint Crispin's lance"; and if your 
shoes are too tight, you are "in Saint Crispin's prison."

Because of their refusal to sacrifice to idols, Saint 
Crispin and Saint Crispinian were pierced with shoemaker's 
awls and suffered other tortures. They were in popular 
veneration throughout the Middle Ages, and we read in 
Shakespeare's "Henry the Fifth":

       This day is call'd the feast of Crispian: 
       He that outlives this day, and comes safe home, 
       Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd, 
       And rouse him at the name of Crispian.

For many years there was a special Mass for the cobblers of 
France on this feast and it was followed by a huge banquet. 
Legend says the first celebration of this Mass so pleased 
the saints that they allowed cobblers to have as reward a 
little preview of heaven.

In England, the same custom of a special feast on Saint 
Crispin's day was observed by the shoemakers. Afterwards 
they burned torches on the sand, probably as substitutes for 
the altar lights provided by the shoemakers' guild in pre-
Reformation times for their chantry chapel.

Just as, some months back, on Saint Anthony's Day we allowed 
a recipe having as its title a pun, so we give you another 
for the day of the shoemaking saints.


Fruit Cobbler

3 cups fruit                     1 tablespoon flour or
1/2 cup sugar or more            1 egg 
                 biscuit dough

A cobbler may be made with the fruit on top of a biscuit 
dough or with fruit under the dough. Prepare the fruit and 
add sugar (the amount will vary with the sweetness of the 
fruit) mixed with flour or with a well-beaten egg. Make a 
rich biscuit dough (or use prepared mix) and place in the 
bottom of a greased baking tin; cover with fruit dotted with 
bits of butter and bake at 425 degrees F. for about half an 
hour. Or, cover the fruit with the dough and brush the dough 
with a little milk or the beaten yolk of an egg diluted with 
a little water. Apples, peaches, plums, or other fruits may 
be used.


October 28: Feast of Saints Simon and Jude

Not very much is known of either of these Apostles, except 
that Simon was called "the Zealous," and Jude was the 
brother of James the Less, and that they preached and were 
martyred in Persia. 

Over the years great devotion has grown up around Saint Jude 
as the Saint of the impossible. As prayers to Saint Anthony 
restore lost articles, so prayers to Saint Jude restore or 
revivify the most difficult of spiritual causes for persons, 
or groups, or nations. Saint Jude has proved a powerful 
patron in more than one instance, for example in the case of 
the City of St. Jude in Alabama, founded to aid materially 
and spiritually the Negro race, and which has well fulfilled 
that mission. Saint Jude might make a fine patron for the 
United Nations, over endowed with material patrons, but 
sadly lacking in those of the spirit.

Regarding popular celebration of the feast of Saint Simon 
and Saint Jude, there has arisen some confusion through the 
centuries. In Italy a "foletto," which translated, means 
holy goblin, was often confused with Saint Simon because of 
a similarity in names, and Jude was confused in people's 
minds with Judas. Another reason for the confusion is that 
the feast of these saints comes so close to All Hallow's Eve 
that it partakes a little of its traditions.

>From the old association with goblins and witches and feasts 
of the dead, there has come down to us a cake often eaten in 
Scotland and England in honor of Simon and Jude. In 
Scotland, it is known as a Dirge Cake, in England as a Soul 
Cake, and we give the recipe on November 2nd, the feast of 
All Souls.


October 31: All Hallows' Eve

A very ancient celebration is this the Eve of All Saints. In 
pre-Christian eras it was a day when the Druids gathered 
within a ring of stone and chanted runes. The Romans 
celebrated it with an autumn feast to Pomona, goddess of 
orchards.

In the calendar of the Church this is a fast day, but, 
especially in Ireland, many interesting dishes have been 
evolved to tide one over to the next day's feast of All 
Saints. Fast days often seem to inspire cooks to concoct 
palatable foods of a vegetarian nature. Of these the 
counties all have their favorites, most of them based on the 
potato, that basic commodity from the Irish fields. But no 
matter what the food, there is always placed in the dish a 
wedding ring wrapped in grease-proof paper, and this is said 
to decide the future of the person finding it.

Tyrone, Cavan, and other counties indulge in boxty dishes 
and also in many verses about them. One runs:

               Boxty on the griddle, 
               Boxty on the pan, 
               The wee one in the middle 
               It is for Mary Anne.

               Boxty on the griddle, 
               Boxty on the pan--
               If you don't eat boxty, 
               You'll never get your man.

And another:

               Two rounds of boxty baked on the pan, 
               Each one came in got a cake in her han'; 
               Butter on the one side, 
               Gravy on t'other 
               Sure them that gave me boxty 
               Were better than my mother.

These boxty dishes include boxty dumplings and boxty bread 
and boxty pancakes (for the latter see Shrove Tuesday).


Boxty Bread

1 lb. raw potatoes                    salt
1 lb. cooked potatoes                 flour

Wash and peel the raw potatoes and grate them onto a piece 
of cheesecloth. Then squeeze them out, catching the liquid 
in a dish which must be allowed to stand so that the potato 
starch may settle. Mash the cooked potatoes over the raw, 
and season with salt. Pour off the potato liquid carefully; 
then scrape up the potato starch at the bottom of the dish 
and add to the potato mixture. Work in enough flour to make 
a good dough and knead for a few minutes; then roll out, cut 
into cakes, and bake on a hot griddle.


Boxty Dumplings

Use the same ingredients and follow the same procedure as 
for Boxty Bread. When the dough has been kneaded, instead of 
rolling it out, form into small balls the size of an egg, 
drop them into boiling salted water and cook them for forty-
five minutes. Serve with a sweet sauce.

The same counties feature on Halloween Potato Pudding and 
Colcannon (see Saint Patrick's Day).

In Scotland a special cake is made, and charms wrapped in 
paper are stirred in before it is baked. These are the usual 
ring, button, thimble, and coin, with the addition of a 
horseshoe for good luck, a swastika for happiness, and a 
wishbone for the heart's desire.

In England, as also in the United States, it is a night for 
feasting before an open fire, on cider and nuts and apples, 
and was formerly known as Nut Crack Night.

Far back in history runs the list of games played on that 
night, many of them still popular, such as bobbing for 
apples in a tub of water, or trying to take a bite from one 
swinging on a cord, or that slightly more dangerous but 
fascinating sport of snapdragon, in which raisins were 
placed in a bowl of brandy and the liquid set on fire, the 
point of the game being to extract the raisins without 
burning oneself--surely a better game to win than to lose.

Although Halloween is the eve of a solemn church festival, 
its celebration has always been associated with witches and 
hobgoblins and ghosts; in the past it was at times an 
occasion for the practice of sorcery and incantations, and 
even of cruelty. Today it is a night of fun, which even at 
its worst seems to consist in the carrying away of gates or 
porch furniture. We have all seen the children, dressed in 
grotesque ways, who go about asking for candy and pennies. 
Familiar is the sight of the small boy coming home with a 
bag full of edibles--candies, cakes, nuts, gum, enough for 
several meals--and a good stack of pennies.

Grown-ups, whose duty for the evening seems to be to provide 
the handout, might spend their own evening by making it a 
Nut Crack Night. Sitting before a bright hearth fire, they 
can feast on the appropriate foods of the night and of the 
season--cider and apples and nuts.



NOVEMBER


November 1: All Saints' Day

THIS DAY, formerly known in England as All Hallows and in 
France called "Toussaint," honors, as its name implies, all 
the saints canonized and uncanonized, known and unknown. 
Long ago the church bells rang for most of the night before 
All Saints' Day to praise the saints "risen in their glory." 
Everywhere patronal and family saints are especially 
remembered. It is a feast to give them praise rather than to 
ask favors of them, a day for praising them to God rather 
than asking them to remember the living to Him.

The observance of this feast merges into the next, which is 
All Souls' Day, so that by evening it has become the eve of 
the day of the dead. On All Souls' Eve the graves in Hungary 
are lighted with candles and decorated with flowers. Indeed, 
the custom of visiting the cemeteries and adorning the 
graves of relatives and friends with wreaths and bouquets 
prevails in most Latin and Central European countries.

In Czechoslovakia there is an old tradition of eating 
special cakes on All Souls' Eve, and of drinking cold milk 
"to cool the souls in Purgatory." In Belgium also a 
particular variety of cakes is baked, and it is an old 
superstition that "the more one eats of them the more souls 
will be saved from Purgatory."

In many old English towns, maids still go "souling" on All 
Souls' Eve, that is, singing for cakes, and one hears such 
ancient ballads as:

               Soul! soul! for a soul-cake! 
               I pray, good misses a soul-cake--
               An apple or pear, a plum or a cherry, 
               Any good thing to make us merry, 
               One for Peter, two for Paul, 
               Three for Him who made us all.


Soul Cakes

1 yeast cake                       2 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar                      6 cups flour
1/4 cup lukewarm water             1 teaspoon salt
1/4 lb. butter                     3 teaspoons cinnamon

Dissolve the yeast cake with 1 teaspoon of sugar in the 
lukewarm water and let it stand in a warm place. Cream the 
butter with the sugar. Add the milk which has been scalded 
and slightly cooled and then add the yeast. Sift the flour 
with the salt and cinnamon and add to the mixture, kneading 
for a few minutes. Place in a bowl and allow it to rise in a 
warm place to double its bulk. Shape the dough into round 
buns and bake at 375 degrees F. for about thirty minutes or 
until lightly browned. Originally, these cakes were shaped 
like men and women and were given raisins or currants for 
eyes.


November 2: All Souls' Day

After the feast in honor of the saints in heaven, comes the 
day of praying for the dead, particularly for members of the 
family, so "that they may quickly attain to the fellowship 
of the heavenly citizens."

As we have said, many of the observances of this day take 
place on the eve. In the Old World lights were set in 
windows to guide the departed back to their homes, and food 
was placed beside a candle or lighted lamp on the table to 
await them. In Brittany, where belief in the supernatural is 
intensified on this night, the people, dressed appropriately 
in black, hurry home after vespers to talk together about 
the departed, speaking of them in low tones as if at a 
funeral. On the table with the best cloth are placed plates 
of bread and cheese and mugs of cider for the refreshment of 
the departed ones. As the living sit whispering together, 
they hear, or seem to hear, in creaking floorboard and empty 
benches about the table the movements of the ghosts who have 
come to rest that night in their former home. And knowing 
that the saddest of all are the homeless dead who roam about 
the countryside on this one night of the year permitted them 
on earth, it is a custom of Celtic people to set food and 
drink on doorstep and window sill, so that homeless spirits 
too may have a share.

In Italy, and especially in Sicily, good children who have 
prayed for the dead through the year are rewarded by having 
the "morti" leave gifts, sometimes cakes, none the less 
welcome because they have been made by the hands of mundane 
bakers. Especially good are these "Fave dei Morti," and as 
fine a reward for a pious child as was the "Pretiolium" or 
pretzel of the Middle Ages.


Fave dei Morti (Beans of the Dead)

1/4 lb. almonds               butter, size of a walnut
1/4 lb. sugar                 1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons flour           1 egg
            1/2 lemon peel, grated

Pound some of the almonds (unblanched) with some of the 
sugar in a mortar, and then rub through a sieve. Continue 
this process until all of the almonds and sugar have been 
used. Any of the mixture remaining in the sieve should be 
pounded again until it is fine enough to pass through the 
sieve. Work this paste with the flour, butter, cinnamon, 
egg, and lemon peel until the whole is quite smooth. When 
done, roll into long thin rolls; divide into small pieces 
and shape them to resemble a broad bean. Bake on a greased 
tin at 350 degrees F. for about twenty minutes or until 
light brown. Though soft at first they will harden when 
cold.

In Poland on All Souls' Day vespers are sometimes sung in 
the churchyards, and alms are given to the poor who in 
return are expected to offer prayers and petitions for the 
dead of the donor's family. Lighted candles are placed on 
the graves to drive away the bad angel so that "the Lord may 
count on that night the number of souls belonging to

In Spain every theater gives a performance of the famous 
play "Don Juan Tenorio" and thrills anew to the drama of the 
wicked lover who is dragged to hell by the ghost of the fair 
damsel to whom Don Juan proved unfaithful. The "Dia de 
Muertos" is an occasion so important in Mexico that its 
observance lasts for several days. Several days before, on 
October 30th, the souls of dead children are said to revisit 
their homes and spend the night. They are welcomed with 
flowers and food in gourds, as many gourds as there are 
"angelitos"--souls of dead children expected. And in the 
doorway of homes are placed chocolates and cakes and a 
lighted candle for those children who have no one to 
remember them.

On the Day of the Dead, Mexican crowds stream into the 
cemeteries long before daybreak, bearing flowers, candles, 
and food. Breads, candies, and cakes have been made in the 
form of grinning skulls with eyes of shining purple paper, 
of little chocolate hearses and coffins and funeral wreaths. 
With picnic gaiety the families group about the graves in 
the cemeteries, everyone laughing and enjoying the fine 
fiesta and sharing the food they have brought. And as in 
Spain, in the evening the whole village repairs to see the 
perennial drama of the faithless Don Juan and his luckless 
lady.


Pan de Muertos (Bread of the Dead)

1 yeast cake                    2 cups sugar
1/4 cup lukewarm water          6 eggs
5 cups flour                    1/3 cup orange blossom
1 teaspoon salt                      water
1 cup butter                    1/3 cup milk
               1/4 cup anisette

Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water and let it stand in 
a warm place. Sift the flour with the salt. Taking about 
half the flour, add the yeast, mix well, and allow to rise 
in a greased bowl in a warm place until double in bulk. 
Cream the butter with the sugar; add the egg yolks and the 
orange blossom water. Then add the remaining flour, the milk 
and anisette. Mix well and knead for a few minutes. Then add 
the egg whites, one at a time, kneading after each addition. 
Finally add the fermented dough and beat and knead until 
thoroughly mixed. Allow it to rise in a greased bowl in a 
warm place until double in bulk. Knead once more and divide 
into two portions. Remove a bit of the dough from each 
portion, enough to form two "bones." Shape the dough into 
round loaves and moisten the tops with water. Place the 
"bones" in the shape of a cross on each loaf and bake at 375 
degrees F. for about fifty minutes or until done. The loaves 
are usually covered with a light sugar glaze when baked.


November 3: Feast of Saint Hubert

Late in the eighth century, so runs the story, a hunter 
named Hubert, neither better nor worse than he should have 
been, was tracking a stag through the forest of the 
Ardennes. As he readied himself to shoot the animal with his 
arrow, he was startled when the stag turned suddenly in its 
flight, and he saw between its antlers a luminous cross. 
This experience caused Hubert to change his way of life, and 
he never hunted again. Yet only a few centuries later he was 
known as the patron of hunters, and is a saint greatly 
honored in France and Belgium.

Saint Hubert lived a full life. He became bishop of Tongres 
and traveled through his huge diocese on horseback and by 
boat, preaching and building churches to the glory of God. 
He was the friend of the great of his day--Pepin of Heristal 
and Charles Martel among them--and also of the poor. In 
particular his heart went out to prisoners, and he would 
secretly place food for them before their dungeon windows. 
As he died he said to those about him, "Stretch the pallium 
over my mouth for I am now going to give back to God the 
soul I received from Him."

In parts of France and Belgium there has long been a custom 
of holding stag hunts on Saint Hubert's Day, and the hunters 
gather before the chase for Mass and the blessing of men and 
horses and dogs. After the hunt is over, those taking part 
gather for a bountiful breakfast consisting of fish, meat, 
salad, cheese, and dessert. Naturally the meat is venison of 
some sort, and the salad may well be one of dandelion 
greens.


Venaison Roti (Roast Venison)

If the venison is young, it does not need marinating; 
otherwise marinate several hours or even overnight. For the 
marinade use 1 pint of vinegar, 1 pint of red wine, several 
bay leaves, 4 shallots, 2 sliced carrots, 1 lemon cut into 
thin slices, some freshly ground pepper, and a handful of 
juniper berries. Carefully remove the skin from a loin of 
venison without tearing the meat and wipe it with a damp 
cloth. Lard the loin symmetrically with bacon (not larding 
pork). Dust with salt and pepper, cover liberally with 
butter, and roast in a hot oven for one hour, basting almost 
continuously with the butter in the pan and 2 cups of sour 
cream. Remove the meat to a hot platter; carefully stir 1 
tablespoon of flour into the pan, then add a cup of hot 
stock, cook for several minutes, and strain through a fine 
sieve. (Though not orthodox, a leg of lamb may be 
substituted but in that case marinate for several days.)



 
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